1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to instructional and amusement game apparatus and, more particularly, to a unique game for aiding children and others to recognize, add, and remember monetary sums.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Games for aiding children and others in learning addition and other arithmetic operations have been suggested for some time. One of the earliest of such games is shown in German Pat. No. 34,867 issued in 1886 to A. Sala. Others of this type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,377 issued on Aug. 11, 1970 to John R. Gardner and entitled INSTRUCTIONAL GAMING APPARATUS; Pat. No. 3,959,893 issued on June 1, 1976 to T. W. Sigg entitled EDUCATIONAL GAMING APPARATUS; Pat. No. 3,314,168 issued on Mar. 18, 1967 to M. J. Heckman entitled MATHEMATICAL INSTRUCTION MEANS; and Pat. No. 4,114,290 issued on Sept. 19, 1978 to J. B. Cooper entitled ARITHMETIC DICE GAME. Such games use one or more instructional dice or block member, e.g., having addition, subtraction, division, etc. symbols, and two or more numbered block members having number symbols and serve to teach and drill children and others in performing general arithmetic operations.
Similarly, apparatus have been employed to play games based upon sporting games, such as baseball, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,769,726 issued on July 1, 1930 to R. Walker and entitled GAME; or football, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,562,866 issued on Nov. 24, 1925 to N. W. Burgess and entitled GAME APPARATUS. Such games are only incidentally educational, being primarily amusement devices. A similar amusement or gambling apparatus involving dice and a stack of chips is shown in British Pat. No. 637,247 issued to F. Best in May 17, 1950 and entitled IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO GAMES OF CHANCE.
While generally amusing or generally instructional, such games do not add to the practical knowledge and skills needed by children, specifically in handling and dealing with money and specifically with dealing with common coinage and monetary note amounts.